Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-06-19

that morning. The whole thing seemed
almost like magic. The janitor's story
was the only tangible point connected
with il, and even that might be an in
ventiOn. As the police officer in charge
, contemplated the scene, nc could not re
press reluctant admission that the Togues
had done their work well.
There's only one man in New York, The
remarked to mis- companion, "WhO has the
eyes to see through this milestone, and
the sooner he gets to work on it tic. bet
ter. And even &c VIII fed il tbs toughest
j1h he has ever tackled"
The parsonage thus alluded TO was 81
ready en- his way TO the bank, having been
apprised of the catastrophe some minutes
before. Meanwhile, kilograms were
sent the officers and directors OF the bank,
telling them what rad happened, aud re-
questing their immediate tendance, with
! view Of their throwing whatever light
they could upon the MISTER. And here,
for the time being, all action necessarily
paused; and the crowd, finding that no
new developments were TO be looked for,
gradually dispersed, until the street re-
sumed somewhat lis wonted aspect.
CHAPTER III.
Between 10 and II O'Clock g new figure
arrived on the scene. This was o tall and
well-built man Of perhaps thirty-tive
years OF age, with & face expressive of
quiet but penetrating Intelligence and q
bearing that denoted power, seIf-cOGd-
dence and reserve. He was neatly and
unobtrusively dressed and looked like y
pros porous man of business of the hi-her
class.
His appearance was not specially noted
by the bystanders, but the police officers
on duty greeted him with manifest salts
faction. And well they might, for If any
man could find his way through the LADY
rinth Of mysteries presented for solution,
il was he. Unassuming IS ne seemed,
this was New YOfk's greatest detective,
Inspector Bgrnes.
The Inspector held few moments.
private conversation with the Officer In
ChSrge, with view 10 putting himseN in
possession Of Whstevar was thusf Ear
known of The affqir. Then, after sstfag
whether everything in the bsnk was in
the same condition as when first discov-
e ed, and receiving en- affirmative reply,
he began his investigation. la this he
vas assisted by no one; he preferred to
depend upon himself and grapple with
the problem alone. i
As already stated, there were two doors
On the Blocker street side of the bRil0ing
apd nice pl&te-glsss windows, admitting
Z. view both of the bank room and of the
apartments of the directors. The deteC-
tive's first attention was given to the
doors, but there were no marks on the
locks of either of them to show that they
had been tempered with. 1t was evident,
therefore, that they hsd been opened
either with the true keys made for them
or with limitations of Identical pattern.
Further inquiry must show which of these
alternatives was the more likely to be
correct. The inspector now opened the
bank door and stood on the tesSel8ted
stone pavement of the main Office.
Everything here appeared in it's usual
condition. Standing with his back to the
windows, the detective found himself fac
ing the long screen or partition which
separated the clerks from the depositors.
This partition was of paneled anu polished
wood, surmounted by framed sheets OF
plate glass. The whole was rather higher
than q mans head. It extended in g
direction parallel with Blocker street,
from the partition wall of the directors
apartments, at the eastern end Of the
building, to within few yards of the
front or Broadway end. Here it made
rectangular turn, which carried it to the
main partition wall on tie north. Mid
way in this portion was the doorway Civ
ing access to the clerks desk room.
There was nothing in this outer region
in the least unusual. A broom stood in
corner near the door with small heap of
dust beside it.; feather custer and
cloth lay on the window sill hard by.
These objects attracted the attention of
the detective, whose eyes nothing ss-
capped. and he made q mental note Of
them, for the evidence of the patrolman,
who had seen supposed jsnitor clean
ing up the office in the early morning, had
not IS yet been made known.
The detective now turned to the right
and entered the rooms reserved for the
president and directors. Nothing had
been disturbed there. The apartments
we're in precisely the same state il which
they had been left when the bank was
closed the Saturday afternoon previous.
Having satisfied himself of this, he re-
traced his steps to the outer office.
The burglars must have entered the
OuL4NiuS ~ eHS sue uOOI Shu P+uNeSuSN
westward toward Broadway, gaining
access to the clerk 9 room by the opening
in the Broadway end of the screen. How
they had contrived to do this without
being seen from the street was of course
a matter of conjecture. They had doubt
less timed the patrolmen, whose beat
carried him past the bank, and at that
early hour on Sunday morning there
would be very few other persons on the
street. Moreover, the glare of the light
reflected from the pIate-glass surfaces
would to some extent conceal them from
passers by.
The detective here pushed open the
door of the clerks room and went in.
Directly facing him, as he stood, was
the vault, and now the first indications of